ADHD at School

Uncooperative School

My 11 year old “son” has ADHD. The school does not seem to be moving forward on accommodations or plans for him. We had one conference because of his unruly behavior and it seemed we were all on the same page. We discussed an IEP but he needed a hearing and vision test first and we were told the school nurse would take care of that next time she was in our school. He has no insurance yet, his mother died in May and he moved from Maine to Alabama with us in August. Weeks later, and many phone calls from me we get a notice from the nurse that we have to get the tests done. Fine, we take him to the clinic and we get the tests. Mean while he gets into some trouble at school, nothing major and the teachers are threatening to kick him out of school. He attends a school outside of our district. We do not have court ordered guardianship of him yet only temporary guardianship signed by his father and signed and sealed by a notary in Maine. The school told us the social worker would help us with that and nothing has happened. No insurance and tons of out if pocket medical costs. $300+ per month for his Meds, $70 every 2 weeks for therapy, a broken foot with ER visit orthodox visits X-rays etc and a week long stay at a child mental health facility after he threatened to kill himself. I am tired, frustrated and defeated! These people do not want to deal with him or us. What do we do! Who can we get to help us navigate this mess! We are not absent uninvolved parents. We are getting the run around from the Juvenile Court, the Probate court, the dDepartment of Child Welfare, the Department of Human Resources, Alabama Medicaid and the school. HELP!

If it were just school problems, I’d suggest getting an educational advocate. However, it sounds like you are struggling with a lot more than that. Maybe it’s time to hire a lawyer?

You need to request an evaluation with the school in writing. They have to respond and let you know if they think your child needs an evaluation. If yes, they have 60 days to complete it by law. Here’s a sample letter you can customize: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/792.html. Be sure you submit it to the principal and teacher with confirmation of receipt. If they don’t comply after receiving formal written request, take the matter to the Director of Special Education for your school board.

I have a friend here who had a similar experience with her daughter attending out of district. They paid a fee for her to attend the city school instead of the county school that is their district. As soon as her daughter began showing signs of behavior issues, they said she could no longer attend out of district. Turns out her daughter has high-functioning autism. While your child should be protected, even out of district, that isn’t always the case. Schools can be quite political.

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